Police are
investigating the collection of postal votes by Labour party activists in
Leicester, including the cabinet minister Patricia Hewitt, the Guardian has
learned.

In signed statements of complaint,
voters say the trade and industry secretary joined two councillors from a
Leicester ward, who were asking voters to hand over the council election ballots
last Wednesday. Politicians should not handle postal votes according to the
electoral commission - although there is no law preventing them from doing so.

One man said that Mrs Hewitt, the
MP for Leicester West, stood on his doorstep in the neighbouring Leicester East
seat as a councillor asked for his elderly mother's postal vote, which had yet
to be filled in.

Another man said Mrs Hewitt sat in
his front room as he filled out his ballot and handed over three others, at the
request of councillors whom the minister was accompanying.

One of the councillors, Manjula
Sood, said she had collected postal votes.

The government has backed the
increased use of postal votes as a way of countering falling local election
turnout.

Over the weekend Leicestershire
police interviewed a witness and voters who handed over their ballot papers.

Four members of the Aly family say
they handed over their ballots, which were filled in and sealed.

Sayed Aly invited the minister and
the councillors into his front room, where four postal votes were lying on a
shelf.

Mr Aly says his was blank: "I
filled it out in front of them, just to get them out of the house. "Mrs Hewitt
would have heard the request for the ballot papers."

Mr Aly said he did not realise the
papers were supposed to be posted, and said he felt disappointed by Mrs Hewitt.
"They should have told us to post it."

Bharat Amin, a Labour party member,
said he was at home when a Labour candidate accompanied by Patricia Hewitt
called and asked to take postal votes. "By her presence she gave more legitimacy
and support," he said.

Labour is trying to hold on to a
two-seat majority on Leicester city council, and the two councillors face a
tough challenge from independent candidates.

In March the electoral commission
in a report on postal voting said: "Candidates, agents and local party workers
should not handle ballot papers."

Alex Folkes of the Electoral Reform
Society said the episode was unwise and gave "the impression of impropriety".

Mr Folkes said a law banning
politicians from collecting postal votes was needed. Ms Sood denied any
wrong-doing, and said the ballots were handed in the next day to the town hall.
"There's no law which says we can't take them. We did collect some votes of
people who asked us to take them."

A spokesman for Mrs Hewitt said:
"Nothing inappropriate has been done at all. She has complied with the electoral
commission guidelines and Labour party guidelines."

Leicestershire police said they
were investigating complaints received about the incident: "We are aware of the
concerns and are looking into them."